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Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill

Subsection (1) of the new clause to be inserted by Amendment No. 47B states: "““An order under this Part may not diminish””." I remember that, during the passage of the Financial Services and Markets Bill, the posts of chairman and chief executive officer were combined in one person. A small order may need to be placed by a Minister to separate the two roles. That would not be an attackon the independence of the regulator, but the amendment might prevent even such a simple thing. Unlike the noble Lords opposite, I believe that the Bill will do only very small things; it is designed to make the passing of simple orders easier, because it is currently difficult. This amendment would make the passing of a simple transfer order impossible. There would be no regulatory reform ever.